Deeper problems confront Ferguson

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Posted Aug. 22, 2014 at 10:09 PM
Updated Aug 22, 2014 at 10:09 PM

Posted Aug. 22, 2014 at 10:09 PM

Independence, Mo.

James A. Everett

Independence

To the editor:

When one is neither a participant or an observer to something like the recent killing of the 18-year-old black man in Ferguson, Missouri, it is usually best to keep silent. However, I feel this is the exception that proves the rule. From the information we have up to now received about the incident, the residents of Ferguson have every right to believe this was a pure and simple murder, and if so, it is not only acceptable for them to protest, it is almost mandatory.

According to what we’ve been told, Michael Brown had his hands in the air and was moving away from the officer when he was shot in the back. Not once, but six times including shots after he lay prone on the ground. Every police officer I know is taught to never pull their gun from its holster unless they feel their life is being directly threatened.

We are told that both state and federal entities are being brought in to investigate. Regardless of the end outcome, it appears that anti-black hatred has long been a part of the Ferguson city culture. Ferguson is about two-thirds black, yet the police force is 90 percent white. Similar racial imbalances exist in other civil power structures such as the City Council, the school board, and other leadership groups. Such obvious negative aberrations of the American egalitarian policy serve to open the door to the continuing violence in Ferguson. Blatant racial injustice simply has no place in today’s United States of America.